Stripping and ecoating - results

I had the body and doors, plus other bits and pieces done at International Paint Stripping in Romulus Michigan (http://internationalpaintstripping.com/). It involves an acid bath, neutralizing bath and then e-coating. I chose this because the coating adheres extremely well to the bare metal and since it’s dipped, it penetrates to all the cavities and boxes. It removes everything down to bare metal - paint, rust, filler, felt, adhesives, undercoating, everything. I figure it’s a good alternative to blasting and epoxy primer with the additional benefit of covering interior and cavities. It took them about 3 weeks to do the job and cost $2,800. I am satisfied with the result, but not sure I would do it again. The benefit of coating all the interior surfaces especially cavities is undeniable. Major con is that all the lead is removed (and in my case not quite all the lead disappeared so the coating did not adhere there), and the resulting surface defects exceed what I would feel comfortable smoothing with filler. Next stop is the body shop and I will discuss with them how to fill these previously leaded areas.

Here are a few pics…

John North
67 Roadster

I wonder if something else is going on, mine also has lead at the back edge of the door, where the top tacks though the metal to wood, and at the top of the rocker panels. Can’t tell for sure from your pictures, but yours seems intact in those areas.

Interesting process: never heard of it before.

Lead is gone from the back edge of the door and rockers also, but it was not so thick there and was completely removed and the coating looks fine.

John

Man I wish I had a service like that available locally. Anyway I was taught how to lead a car 25 years ago by an English panel beater. I actually got pretty good at it. Having said that, it’s certainly not superior to modern fillers, which are light and flexible. Lead was used in the 60’s because there was nothing else available - not because it was the best - well I guess being the only it also had to be the best. It can rust underneath, but that’s not usual, but rusting at the edges is not unusual, as the guy doing it got past the solder base that’s laid down first, and to which the lead sticks. (It doesn’t stick well to bare steel). There are guys around that still do leading, but I wouldn’t run after one. I am puzzled why this dip took the lead off, but perhaps not the solder base? The solder has an acid core so it cleans the steel - the bond is mechanical, not chemical, and it is difficult to get off - you can’t get it all off by applying heat to it… The lead is never heated beyond coming plastic (the tricky part) so it can be manipulated with a paddle.

Anyway properly applied modern fillers are really good. You shouldn’t worry about them. The body shop should know how to handle priming over the remaining lead/solder. It’s not brain surgery.

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What Ive tried to say for a looooong time.

For deep seaming, lead can be done such that no rust occurs inder it: on Tweety’s factory leaded joints, the ones I redid, had none.

Then on top I used modern polyester filler. Works great, easy to work.

It still beats glass beading and having the glass beads falling out of the crevices for the next few years, as I am. Or, doing it by hand using paint stripper, so I guess it’s “Pick your poison” .
Pat

There was a place here which offered electrophoretic painting in combination with the local dip shop.

About 1500$ for the S shell, but they said the baking temp was close enough to the melting point of body solder that it should all be removed first.

And imagine having to chase the threads of a thick layer of what is essentially powder coating, in every single welded thread/nut, and captive fastener plate.

Good point. I did insert a screw in every threaded hole I could find to prevent the problem. I missed the two for the trunk hinges and am having trouble with those right now! Actually the paint layer is quite thin and I had no trouble with captive nuts in cages getting stuck.

John